It's Not Getting Any Easier
My dear friend Don McLaughlin authors a post sub-titled: The Rhythm of Ministry. His wit and insight is always a blessing to me. As I was reading a recent post from Don's blog I began to consider the reality that ministry is not getting any easier. One would think that after nearly 35 years of ministry in local churches you would have learned a few "tricks" of the trade or would have "been there before" and that these expereinces would make the daily experiences of pastoring somewhat easier. In the words of my daughter Marci, "Not!" I think this is true for a number of reasons.
The demands upon the modern pastor are great. Preaching/teaching each week more hours than the typical college professor and visiting for ministry/outreach more hours than the average salesman the pastors schedule is constantly filled.
The modern pastor is often expected to be a ready resource of Biblical knowledge, often being asked questions of obscure Biblical content and expected to not only site chapter and verse but to give ample interpretation without any research. While the pastor absolutely should have a deep familiarity with God's Word he is still simply a student of that Word.
The modern pastor is often expected to attend every socail function of the church, make every ministry visit on behalf of the church, meet every need in the lives of the members and make himself available to resolve every crisis faced by his people.
The modern pastor is expected to be the model leader who not only never misinterprets the direction of God, he is also expect to never make a mistake in guiding his flock to fulfill the will of God.
The added pressure of an economy in recession and the ever increasing need to accomplish more with less.
I could go on but you get the idea.
One of the the things I love about pastoral ministry is that no two days are alike. Ministry is not a theoretical process whereby we attempt to try out academic theory in the real world. Pastoral ministry is every day a practical process of attempting to impact individual people with the message of the Gospel and the abundant life offered by Jesus. Given all of the challenges the modern pastor faces I am called me to be one.
Attempting to Connect the Dots...
Wayne
posted by Unknown @ 8:27 AM
1 Comments:
You forgot to list blogging each week. You also, graciously I am sure, did not mention that it is often a thankless job. Well, not today. Thank you for everything you've done for First Baptist Church in the Pines over the past year. We hope to someday bear the kind of fruit that will prove to be a blessing to you - to make you sit and sigh,"Whaddayano, it was worth it afterall." ;-)
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